Diva Dash: Race Recap

Last weekend I ran the Diva Dash 5k in Kansas City, KS. It was a pretty nice day with approximately 50 degree weather and pretty strong winds. I was wearing pants, a short sleeved shirt and a long sleeved shirt. Once again, I was overdressed. I did not carry water. I finally got a chance to use my iFitness belt and my Chica Band!

Pre-race excitement

Mile 1: 7:00/mi
I made sure to try and get in the beginning of the pack. I knew this race was a run/walk and the last time I did one of these, I did not get in the front, and ended up having to pass a lot of the walkers, who for some reason were in the beginning of the pack. My first mile is always the fastest. I think the combination of trying to pass people and thinking that maybe I will slow down later gives me the energy to push it for the first 10 minutes, or whatever it takes. So the first few minutes were spent passing people and then the pace evened out a bit. I think at this point I had maybe 20 people in front of me.

Mile 2: 7:02/mi

I spent this mile trying to pass as many people as I could. I probably passed 6-8 girls in the 2nd mile. This course was variable with a few ups and downs and I noticed that I can usually pass people on hills, when they typically slow down. I guess that hill training pays off! I was pushing pretty hard and my legs were getting pretty tired, but I was pushed on my the fact that on the straight stretches I could see the front of the pack and they were not too far ahead of me. 

Mile 3: 7:03/mi

This mile was a little bit of a downhill and then pretty much a slow steady uphill to the end. At this point the wind was blowing right toward me, hard. I passed a few more girls and was neck in neck with a small girl in black. I passed her, but the wind was really taking the energy out of me. Then I noticed she was drafting me! I could see her in my shadow, trying to keep behind me to stay out of the wind. I swerved. I wasn't about to help her, not when I could still see the leaders just ahead of me. I couldn't tell at this time if there were 2 or 3 or 4 of them, but they were right there! 

Mile 3.1: 7:06/mi

The wind got me. The slight uphill got me. The girl behind me passed me. I crossed the line without an ounce of energy left. I felt like throwing up, but instead drank a bottle of water in one gulp and then had a banana.

Results:
Chip Time: 21:36
Garmin Time: 21:49 (7:02/mi) I always forget to stop it right away!
5/1130 overall
2/239 age group**

I won this. What the heck am I going to do with it?

 Notes: I really wish I would have pushed harder and not let that girl pass me at the very end. I think she was in my age group, so if I would have pushed a little harder, I could have placed first in my group. I probably should have worn less clothing because I was sweating pretty hard by the end. I am proud of myself though. **I placed, I got a new PR and I ran my fastest mile ever.

After that, I ran (slowly) back along the course, to meet my friend who was walking, so I could walk with her to the finish line. She finished in about 45 minutes which is a new PR for her as well! I am really glad she could join me; it's always nice to have a friend at any race! 
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Next up: Cherry Blossom 10 Mile in Washington DC this Sunday!! The weekend after that, I have my fourth 12 in 2012 race: The Grizzly Peak Trail Half in Berkeley!
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Don't forget to go over to Jill's and check out the other Fitness Friday posts! 

Have you ever ran a race with a friend? How do you feel about drafting? Have you perfected the race day outfit yet?

Diva Dash: Pros & Cons

While visiting a friend of mine in Kansas City, I dragged her to invited her to join me at the Diva Dash in the great state of Kansas. I am trying to race in every state and this would satisfy my Kansas quotient. Right now it doesn't matter what distance it is, any race is sufficient! So, after running this race, my number of states is up to 10!

This race was held on city streets, in one of the outlying areas of Kansas City. There was a good turnout; there were about 1200 people for the 5k. There was also a Little Princess dash, which I believe was one mile. This race, as the name suggests, WAS all women. This is only my second all women race; the first was Women Run The Cities in Minneapolis.

All The Ladies

Pros:

- The energy of this race was great. There were tons of spectators along the beginning and end sections, mostly men and children, and the enthusiasm was great. There was one guy at the very last stretch who was cheering everyone on. It was so nice to have someone cheering for me, even if he didn't know me. I am sure he made everyone else feel great too!

- The ladies working the booths were all really nice. Even though the packet pickup was a little confusing (see below), they were all very friendly and chipper, so it was easy to maneuver.

- The swag. Technical tees in women's cuts and sizes. They also had hats you could buy for $5. For food there were cookies, bananas, edamame, water and Neuro, which is a drink I had not tried before. It was good! I tried the Bliss and the Sun. Both were tasty. There are several other flavors; I would like to try them all. 

- The weather. This may not be normal, but it was about 50 degrees and sunny for the 8:30 am race. I want weather like this every time I race!

- The location. This race was only about 10 minutes from my friend's house. I got to sleep in until about an hour before the race! 

- My friend who came with me said she liked that it was all women, she liked the course, which was varied with up and down hills (and not a lot of flats), she liked that people were wearing costumes, which made the race fun, and she liked that there were both walkers and runners, so she didn't feel pressured to go faster or feel too worried about coming in last.

Cons:

- The packet pickup and registration were in a tiny little room. This race was held in a shopping center, so they opened up one of the stores to do the registration in. It was not big enough for everyone to come in and fill out paperwork and get their packets. It was very tight.

- The packet pickup was difficult to find. Usually it's in a tent out in the middle somewhere. We had to hunt around and ask a bunch of people in order to find this one.

- Not enough port-a-potties. 1200 girls. 8 port-a-potties. It does not compute.

So, except for a few logistical difficulties, this was a great race! If you are just starting out running, I would suggest looking for a fun race like this, where there are walkers (so you won't be the slowest), or where it's a fun run, with costumes or kids or a theme.

Have you ever run an all women race? Do you have a 50 state race goal? Do you like to participate in events or go to parties where you can wear a costume?

Hope Endures 5k

Yesterday I ran a 5k for Ashlyn, Courtney's daughter.

My time was 26:09 or an 8:44/mi pace. It was not a PR, but it was for a good cause. You can still sign up; the race runs from December 2nd to the 6th. All you have to do is go to Courtney's site and let her know you are going to join. Then run the race and time yourself and voila, there you have it. It's not about winning. It is about change and love and hope. Which are all great reasons to run in my book!

I chose the same bib number as I will have on Sunday. Hopefully it will bring me good luck!  I ran around Lake Merritt in Oakland, which was very beautiful. The weather was warm, about 67 degrees!

It was my last run before the Marathon. It is strange to run so little in one week, but that is what taper is all about and I am not trying to reinvent the wheel. However, I feel like I should be running more. 

*******

Today I am in downtown Sacramento, picking up my packet and meeting up with family and friends for a pasta feed before the big day. I will do a more detailed post about this later in the week.

*******

All my bags are packed and I am ready to go. Oprah, watch out. I am hoping to beat you.

Have you ever run a virtual race? Have you ever been to Sacramento? Do you think I can beat Oprah tomorrow?

Fairhaven Turkey Trot Recap

This year was my first ever turkey trot! I have always wanted to do one but have never been near a place that had one for Thanksgiving day. This was a lot of fun for a few reasons. First of all, I have not ran a 5k in a while and I forgot how much fun they are. Secondly, it was pretty small, and I like smaller races. It feels more like a community event rather than a production. It was pretty cold, about 30 degrees, but once you get running, it warms up pretty fast. 

This was the second year that the city has put this race on and I think that they did a good job. Here are the pros and cons of the race. 

Pros: Friendly people. Many of the volunteers were kids, so it felt like a family affair. I liked that. The registration was only 20 bucks and I did get a free t-shirt, even if it was cotton. The race money goes to feed the hungry, which seems not only like a good cause in general, but really feels good on Thanksgiving. The food at the end was great! There were coffees, bagels, water, granola bars, craisins and bananas. It was one of the better hauls I have seen! 

Cons: The race was not timed. This is okay, since I have a Garmin, but it feels weird to not have the clock or at least a slip of paper you write your time on so they can put it online (they did this in New Orleans when there were no chip timers). The course started on a track and several of us who were in the beginning of the pack at the start, myself included, went through the wrong gate. This may or may not have been the reason that my Garmin said that my run was actually only 3.02 miles, not 3.1. The race started about 15 minutes late, which is usually not too big of a deal, except that we had many other things to do (and to cook) that day, so it was a little annoying. 

My final Garmin reading was 23:40. Since this was only for 3.02 miles, I would assume it would have taken me about 40 more seconds to do a proper 5k. This would put me at 24:20, which is a 7:48/mi. A new PR!   

This was a good race. I had fun. The only thing I may do differently is run a longer race next time, since that 5k only burned about 300 calories and I ate about 3000 calories the same day! 

What is your favorite race distance? What did you do Thanksgiving day? Did you exercise or did you embrace the food coma?